"OKAY, GUYS, THE COMPANY SET UP A CITY TOUR, AND THEN WE'LL GRAB A BITE AND HEAD TO THE AIRPORT."
The group walked through an airport building with their luggage in tow, oblivious to their classmates' being in danger. None of them knew the extent of trouble Eszter had found herself in, nor do they have a clue about the enhanced's little fiasco back at the construction site; no one knew about Eszter's accident with her powers against their friends, and no one knows how she nearly tore the building apart with a swipe of her hand. Then there's Peter, who spontaneously aborted the trip with a lame excuse of spending time with his family in Berlin. No one knew his rough escape led to a disaster as he'd been tossed and turned like some rag doll that was being discarded. They were unaware that Peter nearly died after being run over by an ongoing train or how he found himself in a place he couldn't pronounce.
No one but Ned and Michelle knew of the extravagant adventures and terrifying actions that occurred hours prior, but neither of them had spilled the beans. Neither Ned nor Michelle bothered to mention Eszter's whereabouts when she was given anything like Peter. Still, they assumed the enhanced was off on another mission after she fought against the water monster. Mr. Harrington was definitely not pleased because, within seconds, he was dialing Pepper's phone number and explaining the situation.
To say the least, Pepper was not happy to hear Mr. Harrington and Mr. Dell had let Eszter run off to fight some monsters, but the woman understands the enhanced has a duty as an Avenger. Eszter barely goes to training or never really talks about whether or not she would jump back into the hero life, but Pepper had recommended Eszter to take a break. Well, it had been 8 months, so maybe she felt ready. In that case, Pepper understood Eszter still, in a way, has a job, and that was to protect those who couldn't; in the end, Pepper calmed down and believed Eszter was safe and knew what she was doing.
However, Brad didn't look too excited.
"Is no one else gonna acknowledge how crazy this is?" Brad blurts out into the air, capturing everyone's attention.
"I get it," Mr. Dell perks up, balancing his coffee in one hand while the other dragged his suitcase. His movements were stiff as the neck pillow rested above his shoulders, preventing Mr. Dell from turning his head. "There's been nothing scientific about this science tour at all."
"No, no, no. I'm talking about Peter," Brad felt like he was going crazy. "Has no one else here noticed how shady he is? Because I saw him in the bathroom of a rest stop with some woman in his underwear!" Ned and Michelle exchange glances. "And he's always sneaking away! Like back at the opera? Huh? And now what, he's suddenly off the trip? Just like Eszter? Who, by the way, hadn't been mentioned about the fact that she's suddenly missing, too? Is no one else here interested in the truth?"
Ned started to let the panic seep in when he knew he needed to protect Peter's secret, but the boy didn't know what to say. They needed a plan and something that will deflect the idea of Eszter going on a mission without Peter.
Michelle gives Ned a reassuring look. Then she looks back at Brad, calm. "'The very concept of objective truth is fading out of the world,'" she quotes.
Brad glanced at Michelle, a bit at eased when he felt her siding with him. "George Orwell. Thank you, MJ."
"Yeah, well. I mean, since Peter's not here to tell his truth and Eszter's a big girl who can take care of herself--" Michelle's words were like ice, and they surprised Ned by how cold she was being. However, Michelle crosses her arms and narrows her dark eyes at Brad. "What about you, Brad? Why do you think it's cool to take pictures of people in the bathroom?"
Flash kept his phone pointed at Brad, knowing he got it on his live stream. "Yeah, dude. What's that about?" Flash peeks over his phone. "And what do you got against Eszter? She's out there kicking monster butts."
"No, no, it wasn't like that! It was--" Brad stammers over his words when he realized the backlash had struck him. "I was just trying to take--"
Finally, Mr. Harrington cuts in. "Let's just put this craziness behind us and have a nice, peaceful afternoon. 'Sounds great, Mr. Harrington,' said the class. Okay."
Dismissing Brad's suspicions, the class turned around and followed Mr. Harrington as Mr. Dell stayed behind with Brad.
"I'm gonna be the cool teacher right now," Mr. Dell points warningly. "You've gotta stop doing that, okay? It's weird. No more photos in the bathroom. Urinal or stalls. Okay?"
Brad stood defeated as he wipes his nose but follows close behind Mr. Dell as he accepted the walk of shame.
The group made their way out of the building, where they found a double-decker bus from the company Mr. Harrington had been talking about sitting in the street. Their bus driver was standing outside of it with a sign and their school name on it. Pleasantly surprised, the students were absolutely stoked to see they were going to get to ride a double-decker--mostly because it's so London.
"Look at this!" Mr. Harrington was overjoyed. "We've got a bus all to ourselves!"
"Nice to meet you all. Come along," Gutes flashes a smile as he kept his cheery act, but to his dismay, the teens started discarding their bags around his feet. Suddenly, one of them had tossed their heavy bag in Gutes' face, but he caught it. He watches them climb on the bus before he turned around, pressing the button on his earpiece in his ear. "I have the kids."
💜
Beck paced the long hall of the bridge as he concealed his own location as Mysterio was scouring the city while he watches everything from a birdseye view. He made sure everything was set into motion, and Beck was satisfied to hear everything was going according to plan.
Almost everything; Janet has yet to remove the wrinkles from his cape, which was a huge problem because Beck didn't want to be seen with a messy cape. If he was going to meet the Queen, Beck needs to look his absolute best.
Now, Beck was checking in on those who were a threat to his plans.
"E.D.I.T.H.?"
"Yes, Quentin?"
"Show me my loose ends."
The hologram on Beck's screen changes and shows Fury and Hill on his screen, then switching to Betty, Michelle, and Ned.
"Once the show's going, execute a kill order on my command," Beck orders.
"Copy."
A smile slowly creeps on Beck's lips. "Alright, start the show," his eyes scan the sky, waiting for the big opening. "Let's save the world, people."
💜
Michelle peels away from her seat as she leans against the front of the top deck, stepping away from the other teens as they all crowded the top deck. Ned noticed this and stood from his chair and found himself standing next to Michelle, keeping an eyeful watch of their surroundings.
"I don't like this," Michelle frowns at the anxious thoughts running through her mind. Then, she felt Ned standing beside her. "Something's definitely up."
"You're an F-O-S-A-D now," Michelle looked at Ned in confusion. "'Friend of Spider-Man and Dusk.' And you have to remember, just stay calm." They stood in another moment of silence when Ned's curiosity was beginning to chew at his brain, and he couldn't ignore the urge. "How do you think Eszter's doing?"
Michelle tenses at the mere thought of Eszter but relaxes as she closes her arms closer to her body. "I dunno," Michelle shrugs dismissively.
Ned peers over his shoulder. "I hope she's okay," he looks away, staring back out to the street. Ned tried to be gentle about the topic, but he needed to know what exactly happened that night. "She didn't look okay."
"Yeah, I feel the same way," Michelle scoffed lightly.
"What exactly did happened last night?"
Michelle dips her head, already uncomfortable about the topic, as she shuffles on her feet, rolling her lips between her teeth before releasing them. Michelle wasn't prepared to discuss this topic, but she knew Ned would want to know because he didn't get anything that night after Eszter ran.
Michelle lifts her head, keeping her gaze pointed out to the city. "A lot of things happened last night," she says almost coldly. "Things were said, actions were committed."
Ned frowns. "But what set Eszter off?" It baffled Ned to think Eszter had done such a thing because the enhanced had always seemed protective when it came to them. Eszter knew her boundaries and never once used her powers against either of them. "It just sounds unlike her, you know? I mean, Eszter does have a temper, but she's never once used--"
"Well, she did, alright?" Michelle snapped when her patience wore thin. Her eyes met Ned's soft ones, but Michelle's were practically glaring harshly back at his. "She abused her powers and hurt us. She nearly hurt or even killed everyone back at the hotel. Maybe that's what Eszter does, loses her temper and just takes it on everyone else."
"But Eszter's would never do that. Not on purpose."
"Yeah? Well, I have the bruises to prove it," Michelle points at her neck, pointing out the obvious bruise that lightly coated her neck. Michelle managed to hide it from everyone, but her shirt wasn't doing much justice.
Ned couldn't believe his ears. He understands Michelle's frustration and why she's upset, but Eszter has proven herself from the very beginning that she can be trustworthy. It was one incident where Eszter did use her powers, but Ned has no right to trying to change Michelle's opinion; however, it was difficult for Ned to hear the way she spoke about Eszter.
"MJ, Eszter was just upset. I--I mean, she went through a lot, especially with the fight with Thanos, but also Tony."
"That doesn't excuse her actions, Ned. I love Eszter. I do, but . . . I can't just act like she didn't use her powers against me and hurt me. That scared me. Usually, Eszter doesn't scare me, but to see her lose her mind," Michelle shook her head, grimacing. "It made me realize that she's not safe to be with right now."
Ned shifts his body until he's facing Michelle completely. He couldn't be gentle with the topic because now, Ned was feeling personally hurt.
"Of course, she is! This is Eszter we're talking about. She's saved us countless times and has always been there for us," Ned tries to persuade, but the look on Michelle's face caused Ned's smile to turn upside down. "You're not a little bit concerned about where and if she's okay?"
"Yeah, of course, I am. It's just . . ." Michelle quickly runs her hands up her face roughly, trying to ease her stressed mind, but she clenched her fingers tightly. "I'm worried about her, but I can't help but feel glad that she's not here."
Lightly scoffing, Ned furrows his brows. "You don't mean that."
"Yes, Ned. I do. I can't just forgive Eszter for what she did. You weren't there to watch as she did something to Peter because they were just ripping at each other with insults. Eszter used her powers to her advantage and dragged me in it."
But now Ned understood. He couldn't possibly understand the fear Michelle might've felt at that moment, but Ned knew there were bigger issues than this. He was apologetic for making Michelle have to go through with this, but he couldn't possibly let another person Eszter cares about slip away forever. The enhanced had gone through so much that Ned was afraid to see Eszter's heartbroken state once she realized she lost her best friend from her actions.
Nodding his head lightly, Ned's brows soften as he tilts his head to the side. "I know I can't speak for Eszter, but from as long as I've known her, Eszter never meant to hurt any of us. And though I can't defend her actions, she's been through too much," Ned lays his hand on Michelle's shoulder, causing her to glance at him with a broken stare. "She already lost Tony and most of the Avengers. She'll be devastated if she lost you, too, MJ."
Not expecting herself to tear up, Michelle had wiped her eyes before the tears could escape from her eyes; the girl tears her gaze away from Ned when she couldn't keep her eye contact with her friend anymore. Michelle was torn in the middle and didn't know what to do anymore.
However, Michelle hated that Ned used that to his advantage and made her feel almost guilty for wanting to leave Eszter as she had done to her. Michelle might've been the one to gotten hurt, but she was willing to stay for Eszter's sake. Knowing the loss and struggles her friend had endured, Michelle didn't have it in her to abandon Eszter.
Although it didn't mean there would be any form of forgiveness, and Michelle voices that.
"Fine," she huffs out aggressively. "But I'm not forgiving her for what she did, nor am I gonna just act like nothing just happened."
"Great. Let's just hope either Peter or Eszter shows up before something bad happens."
Suddenly, a crashing sound of thunder booms through the sky as it captures Ned and Michelle's attention, and when they looked in the direction, they frowned. The dark clouds descended from the sky and hugged the top of a building.
"That doesn't look good," Michelle switches the conversation to a more important topic.
"But it's fake," Ned was trying to reassure himself. "So there's nothing to worry about."
Quickly shifting in the air, the clouds were closing in on the bridge and getting darker than they were before. But it was the lightning striking the top of the structure, causing sparks to fly, that Ned and Michelle jumped in an alert. Pedestrians screamed out in surprise and shock, glancing up to noticed the clouds sitting above them, but they were more gobsmacked at how closely they were to the ground.
Mr. Harrington quickly rushes to the bottom deck of the bus once the wind was starting to pick up and the lightning was getting too close. "Sir, is it still safe on the top, or should we all--" Mr. Harrington stumbles over his words when he realizes there's no bus driver to be found. His eyes widen, and he slurs his words anxiously. "--come down? Oh, my."
Cutting back up the stairs, Mr. Harrington reached the group.
"What did the bus driver say?" Mr. Dell stood up, shouting over the noise.
"Bus driver's gone," Mr. Harrington informs.
Everyone exclaimed in horror. "What?"
"It's okay. Mr. Dell and I have it under control! Okay?
However, Mr. Dell was not okay. "No, no, no. Don't drag me into this, Roger," he warns with panic in his eyes.
Mr. Harrington loses his calmness. "I'm doing my best, Julius!"
Suddenly, a mass of water rises beside the Tower Bridge, creating water arms as they stood high in the air. Mr. Dell had noticed it, and he started to freak out at the sight.
"Oh! The witches are back."
Mr. Harrington turned around and noticed the water. "Oh, my God, get off the bus!" He exclaims in sheer panic. He waves his hand about as he led the group of teens down the stairs and onto the lower deck. Climbing out of the bus, Mr. Harrington kept himself in front of the kids as he dodged a motorcyclist that zips by. "Okay. Okay, follow me, kids."
Michelle, Ned, and Betty stuck together as they sprinted away from the bus as fast as they could, not expecting a lightning strike to hit exactly at the bus; Michelle ducks as she could feel the impact vibrate under her feet, but the girl reached out and grabbed Ned, pushing him forward.
The group was unaware of the bus being pulled into the geyser before exploding and tearing apart.
An Elemental poked his head out from the clouds as it screeches loud, dipping its head closer to the bridge as if it were hunting for something. The drones underneath the water moved toward the sidewalk before it sends a sonic wave, smashing into the walls as they crack and break under pressure. People screamed in panic, scurrying around as they were trying to get to safety, but it was difficult as everyone else was panicking and darting all over the place.
Running away from the bridge, Mr. Harrington waves at the students, directing them along. "This way. This way!"
Flash runs after the groups but stops abruptly to capture the scene on camera. "Okay! Okay," he didn't think too much about his safety at the moment.
Ned noticed so he skidded to stop. "Flash!"
Suddenly, Michelle practically slammed into Flash's back as she shoves him forward, forcing him to move on his feet. They quickly fall back into the rhythm of speeding across the street, following Mr. Harrington and the other students.
"Follow that cursed hand!"
Ned kept his pace with Betty and Michelle with a few others in front of them. "It's not real. It's not real!" He chanted like he was trying to force himself to believe those words. However, a part of him knew it wasn't.
"Well, it looks pretty real to me!"
Once they got further away from the bridge, the group rounded the corner and stood close to the water as they watched the monster like it was a movie.
"Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water," Mr. Dell was freaking out. "Oh no. They joined forces like the Power Rangers!"
Suddenly, the monster turns around as if it knew the group of students had run away from the bridge, hiding from the monster. It turned around and noticed the kids and teachers standing among the crowd, standing still as everyone ran chaotically.
"You're thinking of Voltron," Mr. Harrington says.
"Who?"
Within minutes, Mysterio was swooping in and saving the day, causing the students--other than Michelle and Ned--to cheer in victory; they were elated and cheered Mysterio on as he shoots green laser beams at the Elemental's head.
Worriedly, Michelle watched as Mysterio zoomed into action, her eyes widen in realization. "Wait, Mysterio knows we know," Michelle tells Ned quietly.
Ned frowns. "Then we're in danger."
"Yeah, and so are they," Michelle nods to their classmates. Then, she pulled on Ned's arm as she drags him away from the group. "We should go!"
Ned nods in agreement as he kept his grip on Betty's hand, pulling his girlfriend along with them as the three of them separate themselves from their classmates. Michelle was leading Ned and Betty as far away as they could go, unsure of where they can hide as they knew Beck would have a way of finding them.
Flash seemed to be the only one to notice, and still, on his live stream, the boy quickly pulled away from the group and rushed after the other three. Now, they were on their own.